NOAA / AOML

Florida Bay/Everglades Projects

History:

Freshwater runoff into the lower Everglades/Florida Bay ecosystem has changed
since the early 1900s, primarily due to extensive construction of canals and
roads. Some believe that these changes in the water flow are the cause of current
ecological problems in Florida Bay, while others believe they are a function of long-termed
natural fluctuations.

Objectives:

1) To use the sediment record from the Florida Bay/Everglades region to identify natural and
anthropogenic changes recorded in this ecosystem over time.

2) To reconstruct episodic/catastrophic meteorological events and local weeather regimes which
critically affect the South Florida ecosystem.

3) To provide rainfall estimates of the entire Florida Bay area using Doppler weather radar so that
the freshwater input via precipitation may be identified.

4) To describe and quantify the interaction and exchange of Florida Bay waters with the connecting
coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and with the Atlantic Ocean through the tidal passses between the
Florida Keys.

5) To determine the effects that seasonal temperature and salinity cycles have on zooplankton
and micro-zooplankton abundance and grazing consumption.

For more detailed information regarding our objectives, please refer to the
following: